“Van Trikt is mainly responsible”

Bankers’ Association on cash reserve issue:

“In our eyes Robert-Gray van Trikt, the former governor of the Central Bank of Suriname (CBvS), is mainly responsible for the fact that about $100 million from the foreign currency cash reserve was used without our knowledge. He is the one who was our counterpart at the CBvS. We held talks with him and entered into agreements with him,” said the treasurer of the Surinamese Bankers’ Association (SBV), Rafiek Sheoradjpanday, at a press conference on Monday.

The commercial banks have a collective foreign currency cash reserve of $426 million at the Central Bank of Suriname. Reports indicate that only $330 million is left. “New accounts are being opened at the Central

Bank so that the rest of the money can be deposited into our own accounts. We are currently focusing on that because it is our task to get the money of our clients and to secure it. “We are angry and outraged but we must take care of this first. After that we will determine who must be held accountable and which action must be taken against those people,” said Sheoradjpanday. The Surinamese Bankers’ Association also revealed its course of action to get the $100 million back and which measures must be taken to prevent this from ever happening again in the future. “The money must be returned. The exact figures will be determined for each bank. The CBvS has a cash flow of $36 million per year and this information will be used to calculate how long it will take to pay the money back. That is what we will discuss next week with the new management team at the CBvS and the minister of Finance so that clear agreements can be reached,” said the treasurer.

The chairman of the SBV, Eblein Frangie, pointed out that not a single agency has contacted the SBV to shed light on what has happened to the money. “We do not know if a clear explanation will be given. What we do know is that we can’t keep playing the blame game. Coming up with a solution and strengthening the financial system are our main goals,” said Frangie who added that an agreement in principle has been inked with the Central Bank of Suriname to establish an investment committee which will be tasked with preventing such incidents in the future. The association wants to make clear agreements aimed at getting the Central Bank to pay back the money. “Our trust in the CBvS has been violated and restoring this trust is important because it will also be our central bank and nothing will ever change that. That is where our focus lies at the moment. We must protect the reputation of the entire Central Bank. There are good, expert and integer people on the job who are willing to come up with a solution and we must not forget that,” said the chairman.